Final pieces hoisted atop One World Trade Center

By Erinn Cawthon and Dana Ford, CNN

Updated 1445 GMT (2145 HKT) May 3, 2013

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Ironworkers wait for the final piece of the One World Trade Center spire to be raised into position for attachment to the building in New York on Friday, May 10. The 408-foot spire brings the building to a height of 1,776 feet, making it the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.

Hide Caption

1 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – The One World Trade Center with the newly installed spire towers over the New York skyline on May 10.

Hide Caption

2 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – The spire is perched on a temporary platform on the top of One World Trade Center on Thursday, May 2. The memorial building sits on ground zero, the site of the World Trade Center twin towers, which were destroyed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Hide Caption

3 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Construction workers watch as the 408-foot spire is hoisted onto a temporary platform on the top of One World Trade Center.

Hide Caption

4 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – An ironworker uses a line to steady the final piece of the spire.

Hide Caption

5 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – The final section of the spire is raised to the top of One World Trade Center.

Hide Caption

6 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – People watch as the final section of the spire is raised to the top of One World Trade Center.

Hide Caption

7 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Weather delayed the morning delivery of the final two sections of a 408-foot spire to the top of One World Trade Center on Monday, April 29, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Hide Caption

8 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Cranes surround the new building on April 2 during the last stages of the construction.

Hide Caption

9 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Manhattan is seen from One World Observatory from the 100th floor of 1 World Trade Center on April 2.

Hide Caption

10 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Workers prepare the first piece of the spire to be hoisted atop the One World Trade Center on December 12.

Hide Caption

11 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Parts of the spire for the new skyscraper make their way on a barge from Port Newark to Lower Manhattan on December 11.

Hide Caption

12 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – The "Tribute in Light" shines near the spots where the twin towers once stood as red, white and blue light up the new building on the 11th anniversary of the attacks.

Hide Caption

13 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Ironworkers walk around the steel decking on the 100th story of the building on April 12, 2012.

Hide Caption

14 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Ironworker Steven Cross carries steel cable across the top of the building on April 30, 2012.

Hide Caption

15 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Construction continues on One World Trade Center on August 12, 2011, beside the memorial footprints of the twin towers.

Hide Caption

16 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – A worker uses a blowtorch to cut metal near the temporary top floor of One World Trade Center on March 9, 2011.

Hide Caption

17 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Construction continues on September 8, 2010.

Hide Caption

18 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – A worker stands on a scaffolding near the base of the construction on December 9, 2010.

Hide Caption

19 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – The superstructure of One World Trade Center is seen at ground zero on August 3, 2009.

Hide Caption

20 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Work continues on the concrete core of the building December 9, 2008.

Hide Caption

21 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – An excavator moves protective mats into position over the hole where test blasts were fired in preparation for the footings of what was then called Freedom Tower on June 12, 2006.

Hide Caption

22 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – The site model of lower Manhattan with the Freedom Tower as designed by David Childs was on display at the Winter Garden on September 6, 2006, in New York.

Hide Caption

23 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Architect David Childs speaks beside a model design of the Freedom Tower on June 28, 2005, in New York.

Hide Caption

24 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Cleanup continues on August 27, 2002, nearly a year after the attacks.

Hide Caption

25 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – Firefighters make their way over the ruins through clouds of smoke at ground zero on October 11, 2001.

Hide Caption

26 of 27

Photos: One World Trade Center towers over NYC27 photos

One World Trade Center towers over NYC – A crane works on the remains of one of the twin towers on September 18, 2001.

Hide Caption

27 of 27

Story highlights

Construction workers cheer as the pieces are hoisted above their heads

"This is like the icing on the cake for New York," says one, WABC reports

One World Trade Center will top out at 1,776 feet

As construction workers cheered, the final two pieces of a 408-foot spire were hoisted high above their heads Thursday to the top of One World Trade Center.

Draped with the American flag, the silver spire settled on a temporary platform. Final installation of the pieces will happen later.

"(It's a) beacon that'll be seen for miles around and give a tremendous indication to people around the entire region, and the world, that we're back and we're better than ever," said Steven Plate, director of construction, CNN affiliate WABC reported.

Once the building is complete, it will stand at a height of 1,776 feet -- an allusion to the year of the birth of the nation.

Already the tallest in New York City, One World Trade Center will be the highest building in the Western Hemisphere.

JUST WATCHED

CEO: 'Change the name' of One WTC

MUST WATCH

JUST WATCHED

2012: Time-lapse: New WTC tower

MUST WATCH

2012: Time-lapse: New WTC tower00:32

PLAY VIDEO

Delivery of the final two sections was delayed by wind and rain, said Anthony Hayes, assistant director of media for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The crowning pieces were supposed to have been delivered last Monday morning.

Thursday is the second anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001, attacks that toppled the original World Trade Center towers.

The spire will contain 18 separate sections of steel and three communication rings. The first -- and heaviest -- steel section was installed in January, weighing more than 67 tons, according to a statement from the Port Authority.

It will serve as an antenna for a television broadcast facility housed in the building.

"This is like the icing on the cake for New York," construction worker Dennis Muia said, WABC reported.